Jose Obando At the age of 29, he has more than 102,000 followers on his Instagram account as an ‘influencer’ and launched his own communication agency a few months ago. He was born and raised in the Sevillian town of Utrera and from a very young age he dreamed of dedicating himself to the world of fashion. Your uncle Manuel Obando He is a designer and his grandfather is a jeweler. However, his best support and inspiration has been his mother. «I owe everything to her, she always bet on me, every crazy thing I told her was fine with her and she even forced me to continue creating content even when I did not earn money from it, because she knew that I would achieve my dreams. In short, she has given me wings », she confesses.
She studied journalism in Seville and moved to Madrid to study a master’s degree in fashion and luxury, focusing her career on fashion direction. José’s paternal family has a well-known bakery company, a national leader in the gourmet pickles market, the famous Obando picks that we can find in most supermarkets: “The characteristic smell of my childhood is freshly baked bread.” For now he has not considered leaving his dream to work in the family business. “I don’t see myself making bread”, he admits, although he does not rule out that in the future he could come in to take charge of marketing and turn the company around. “All my paternal family is dedicated to picks and I am the black sheep”, this does not mean that he is super proud of his roots and highly values the hard work of bakers.
In 2011 he began to flirt with social networks. «I have always been interested in photography, if you see the first photos on Instagram they are still lifes that I now see and laugh». She was successful on Twitter although she ended up closing the account and opting for a fashion blog. “I positioned myself as José Obando in the networks, making a hybrid of ‘lifestyle’, fashion, travel, gastronomy and plans”, he explains. He really enjoys creating content “I’m not one of those ‘influencers’ who gets lazy”. Every time he contacts a brand for a campaign, he gives his best and gives it that personal touch that sets him apart from the rest. Right now he is very excited about his next job for Versace. “If the José of five years ago had been told everything that I am going through now, I would not believe it, things are happening to me that I dreamed of, I have worked hard and I have left my skin along the way.”
He combines his work on the networks with a social media agency, Momo Studio, which he has created together with the ‘influencer’ Susana Bug and the couple of this, Guillermo Valle. Although they have only been running for a few months, they are already seeing results: “I know there are many communication agencies in Madrid but I want this to be one of the important ones in the long run.” Although she could live on social networks, this business bet has been made with a stable future in mind.
Photographs of the Sevillian ‘influencer’
Many and even him at first may have thought that there are no friends in the frivolous world of social networks. «The boy who lived in Seville and observed this world from afar thought that these people should hate each other and that it was a conflictive world, although the world of fashion is really very difficult because there is a lot of competition». Despite his prejudices, he is lucky to have a group of friends who are dedicated to the same thing, like his partner Susana Bicho, whom he considers his sister. «We knew each other from events in which we coincided in Seville and we moved to Madrid at the same time. We connected and this strong friendship emerged », he confesses.
Also with Anabel Pantoja: «I had many prejudices with her because of the world of television and since I have friends like her they have been taken from me, she is a very close friend, a wonderful and valid aunt». And with Nagore Robles he has set his sights on doing the New York marathon next year. He also adores sweetness Already Madame de Rosa:”For me, she is the only fashion influencer we have in Spain today.”
His partner is a lawyer, the complete opposite of his world, but he has his support and helps him record his content and gives him many ideas: «He was also prejudiced by this world and when he met me, my entire circle of television people scared him, now he is the first to call Anabel Pantoja to have a beer ».
